Background
He was also the grandson of author Alexander Ziskind Maimon. Maimon was born in Vilkaviškis, in the Augustów Governorate of Congress Poland (present-day Lithuania).
He was also the grandson of author Alexander Ziskind Maimon. Maimon was born in Vilkaviškis, in the Augustów Governorate of Congress Poland (present-day Lithuania).
He was apprenticed as a clockmaker in his youth and studied painting in Vilnius and Warsaw. Maimon graduated from the academy in 1883.
He was among the first known artists within the Jewish community of Russia. In 1880 he was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint St. Petersburg. Apart from Maimon"s breakthrough for Jewish artists in his time, his work concerned biblical tales and the history of the Jewish people.
Among his familiar works are: "The Marranos", "The Hashmonaim", "The Inquisition" (1893), "Back in the Homeland", "After the Pogrom" (at the Israel Museum Collection, Jerusalem), "The Battle in the Mountains of Turenchin" (1906) and series of paintings devoted to biblical figures.
Maimon researched the background of his paintings. In his preparation for "The Marranos" he traveled to Spain to collect details of information to use.
But an article by Musya Glants at Harvard tells the exciting and amusing story of the painting"s adventures and discovery and eventual "safe harbor". lieutenant is now installed at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in New York City.
His work was internationally known at his lifetime.
Nine of Maimon"s works were shown at the Russian exhibition at the Saint Louis World"s fair in 1904. Some of his work was shown at the JSEA"s exhibition in 1916 - 1917. He died in 1924 in Leningrad (Street St. Petersburg).
In later years he was a member of the "Society for the Encouragement of Jewish Arts", which was established in Saint Peterburg in 1916.